| | Associated Press
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- An assault charge against North
Carolina football and basketball player Julius Peppers was
dismissed Friday.
Peppers and Andre Harris settled their case through an
arbitrator. It was recommended for dismissal, and a judge and
prosecutors agreed.
Peppers, a defensive end and basketball reserve, was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery in connection with an incident outside the Time-Out Restaurant in Chapel Hill on July 21.
Harris, 18, of Mebane, N.C., lodged the complaint against
Peppers. He said in a statement accompanying the complaint that
he saw Peppers "stomp" on someone, then Peppers "hit me with a
forearm or something on my head."
He alleged that Peppers then "went right back and continued to
stomp on the helpless victim," whom he realized was his best
friend after police broke up the fight.
Peppers had maintained his innocence throughout. Cases that come through the people's court are sent to mediation
first, the judge said, and if that fails the case could go to trial. | |
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